Slide Down My Rainbow
by Thursday's Dove
Summary: Just a typical story about everyone getting together for a reunion of some sort right before a new villain comes in and ruins everything. OCs/AU
1. Chapter 1

**[A/N:** I wrote this about... oh... six or seven years ago. I probably will never finish this either, but I'm posting it because.. well, I want to. I also left in all my misusage of the word "glare", because looking back, I find that hilarious. It also appears that I overused modifiers as well, and seemed to be overly keen on reminding the reader just how everyone was related to one another. Well, I was a kid, what can I say. A few other things are explained or noted at the end of this chapter. And now, without further ado...

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own DBZ. I do own any characters in this story you know not to be a part of the actual DBZ series, as well as this story. Enjoy! **]**

---

"He's late! As usual," Aqua said, pacing back and forth.

Gohai was coming over for a visit, mainly to meet his newest little brother, Keith. Keith Sterling Judaic was merely two years old and had never met any of his older siblings before. Keith was, after all, the unexpected child of Aqua and Gohan. They had not planned on having any more children after Gomei.

Keith may have been unexpected but he was most certainly _not_ unwelcome. He had black spiky hair, like his father's, accompanied by twin orbs of black that looked out both nervously and curiously. He was ridiculously shy, and, on top of that, wasn't the least bit violent. Gojurei had started out the same way, but he slowly grew to be violent in his own way; he specialized in a scientific form of violence, finding new things that he could test on his on his two, now three, brothers. Kaizei never let him experiment on her, and she didn't have to argue with him about it either—Spencer would always push him away.

Keith was so shy and quiet that one sitting in the same room as him would hardly notice his presence. The newest child also had a speech impediment—he stuttered horrendously. He couldn't help it. Everything he said got chopped into hard syllables. He had talked like that ever since he had spoken his first word.

But in spite of all that, Aqua and Gohan still loved him like the others. In fact, Keith may have been the most pampered. Gohai, Gojurei, Kaizei, and Gomei had all found their own homes and had moved out, so Keith was the only kid in the household. It was harder for Aqua and Gohan to distribute their attention and time evenly to their first four children. It was much easier for them to take care of Keith because he was the only one who needed parental attention.

There was a knock on the door as Aqua waited impatiently for her oldest son to arrive. As soon as the knock was heard, she leapt up from the sofa and darted to the door where Gohai, Aixia, and their children stood.

"Gohai! You're finally here!" Aqua exclaimed, tightly embracing her first child so that his eyes bugged and he choked. Then she promptly let go, Gohai gasped a breath, and she looked him over, head to toe. "Damn, you've sure gotten big, son…" she finally said.

Gohai responded by blushing slightly and then clearing his throat to hide it. Gohan came down the stairs with little Keith at his heels and gave his son a hug as well. Aqua shifted her attention to her three grandsons produced by Gohai and Aixia.

"Hi, Kosan, how's it goin'?" she asked, shutting the door behind them.

"Oh just fine, Grandma. Just bored 's all," he replied with a sarcastic smirk.

"Grandma!" Fukizon and Xiu shouted, throwing themselves at her and nearly knocking her to the ground.

"Woah, woah! Easy there, kids, I hate to admit it but I'm not as young as I used to be."

Gohai grinned and shook his head. The two youngest of Gohai's children let go of Aqua and leapt at Gohan.

"Grandpa!" they shouted in unison.

"Woah, hey! Uggh!" he grunted as they rammed into him. They squeezed the life out of him.

Aixia politely nodded a greeting and stood by quietly. In the middle of all the reuniting, Gohai glared at the small child cowering behind his father's legs. With a grin, he realized that this was his newest little brother he had heard about, and knelt down to see him better. In seeing this, Keith turned a bright red and moved so that he couldn't be seen. Gohan rested a comforting hand on Keith's head to let him know it was okay.

"It's okay, Keith, come on out," Gohan said.

Keith, trembling noticeably, peeked his head around his father's legs just barely. Gohai chuckled a bit and gestured to him with a hand to come to him.

"Hey, tiger, I won't bite ch'ya… I don't believe in cannibalism," he said, getting a cold glare from both of his parents about his last remark.

Gohan looked down at the shy Keith, winked at him, and gently forced him out with his hand. Keith's nervous eyes darted about the room, trying to avoid eye contact. Now he felt like the whole world has its eyes on him and his expression showed it clearly. The child was utterly petrified and Gohai was rather amused.

"I'm Gohai. You gonna tell me your name, kiddo?" Gohai said with an inviting smile that made little Keith feel more comfortable.

The little boy looked up at his father as if he had to be told what his name was to answer the question. Gohan winked at him again and he looked back down to answer. He sucked in a deep breath and sharply let it out.

"M-m-m-my n-n-name's K-Ke-K-K…" he choked on his words harshly. Gohai realized his speech problem but widened his smile to encourage his kid brother. "K-K-Ke-Keith."

"Well, hello Keith."

"Pl-pl-please c-c-call m-m-me Dr-Dr-Dr-Dra…" he choked again. "Dra-Dr-Dragon. Dr-Dragon."

Gohai put on a puzzled look for a split second and it quickly faded into a warm smile.

"Okay, Dragon," he agreed and ruffled up his hair. Keith, instead of jumping in fright and retreating to his parents, giggled playfully.

Kosan put an arm around Keith's shoulder and said, "Well, Keith, you can hang out with me. If you want, I'll teach you a few things about fightin'—"

"Uhh!"

Kosan was cut off by Keith jerking away and leaping three feet off the ground and into his father's arms out of sheer fright. Kosan stood with a startled glare and so did the others, save Aqua and Gohan—they were used to his behavior. Gohan patted his youngest son's back and held onto him as the little boy buried his face into his shoulder.

"What'd I do? Touch a button?" Kosan asked.

"No, you touched him period," Aqua answered, wiping tears away from Keith's eyes.

"So…?"

"He's a very nervous and neurotic boy, Kosan; you'll have to forgive him. He does it to everybody if he doesn't know you. You're lucky he didn't throw up on you just now. He usually does," Aqua explained.

"Oh… huhmmm.." Kosan pondered.

"Has he always been like this?" Gohai questioned, glaring at Keith with interest.

"Yep, since the day of his birth." Aqua paused for a moment as a laugh-provoking thought came to mind. "Oh boy, Gohai, you should've been there when Kakarot tried to play airplane with him when they first met. Ha ha! That was downright hilarious!"

Gohan cut his eyes over and stared at Aqua vengefully in the eye.

"You tell me how you'd enjoy a hair face full of chunky vomit, okay?"

But the sassy Saiya-jin smirked in return and threw her own much sharper word-dagger at him.

"When that happens, I'll get back to you on the humor content."

Kosan looked down at his feet and looked ashamed, as if he had eaten all the cookies and suddenly felt bad about it.

"Gee… sorry, Keith. I didn't mean to scare you like that… I just didn't know—" Kosan apologized but Gohan jumped in.

"Don't worry 'bout it, kid, it's all right."

"Will he be okay?"

"Oh, of course. It's his nap time anyway."

With that thought in mind, Gohan took Keith, who looked to be getting sleepier by the minute, upstairs to his room, which was previously occupied by Gohai before he moved out.

"Wait a sec, I never got a nap time!" Gohai protested.

Aqua folded her arms and glared at him.

"That's because you never ran out of fuel, silly boy," she retorted, extracting a sour look from her oldest son. "Well, come on upstairs, kids, and let's wait around for the others."

And they did that.

---

"Well, hello Kaizei!" Aqua exclaimed excitedly, opening the door.

"Hi, Mom," she replied and gave a tight hug. "I missed you a lot."

Aqua smiled and stepped back to see Spencer and the twins.

"And how're my two grandbabies, hmm?" she said, taking one twin in each arm.

"Spencer," Gohan nodded a friendly hello to the young Sidian who nodded in return.

"Gohan," he replied.

"So, where is he?" Kaizei randomly said.

"Keith?" Aqua said.

"Yeah, him. Where is he?"

"He's fast asleep at the moment. He'll be awake in about an hour or so," Gohan answered.

"Ahh, I see. These two had a nap in the car on the way over," Kaizei said, referring to Akairii and Akairiu.

The two two-year-olds just giggled in delight at being the center of attention.

There was the sound of a toilet flushing, a door opening, and then Gohai stepped out of the bathroom, still in the midst of zipping up his jeans. He nearly tripped over himself when he saw that his sister had arrived.

"Ouch, shit!" he cursed, catching a finger in his zipper. He straightened himself out to look as dignified as possible and said, "Hi!" in a squeaky voice. He cleared his throat to reclaim his usual moderately-deep but smooth voice. "Hiya, sista!"

Kaizei slapped her hand on her forehead in exasperation, as if she was ashamed to be related to him; she probably was, too.

"Hi, Gohai." She dropped her hand to her side. "I see you haven't changed a bit, even your stupidity has managed to remain the same."

With a shrug at the insult thrown at him by his sister, he grabbed hold of the railing and leapt over it, landing next to her with a bright, ignorant smile. He opened up his arms, expecting a hug. Kaizei looked disgusted.

"Oh do c'mon, sis, I deserve a hug from my one and only sister, don't I?"

"Don't touch me with those hands of yours. I know how guys don't wash their hands after they piss."

Gohai frowned and hung his head, pretending to be emotionally shattered.

"Oh, very well. Come here," Kaizei finally gave in and hugged her older brother.

In revenge, Gohai nearly crushed her in his arms and raised her off the ground.

"Oh my precious sister! I wanna hug you, and squeeze you, and love you until you just kill over! I'll never let go of you! Never ever!" Gohai ranted in a little kid's voice.

"Release now… _brother_…" Kaizei hissed in return.

Gohai obeyed and dropped her to her feet where she glared at him angrily with her cold, ice blue eyes. He shivered for a second and jumped at another knock at the door.

Everyone was quiet as they wondered who it was. Gojurei usually never attended family get-togethers; he was always in his lab doing something insane. But sometimes, if his loving parents convinced him enough, he came over, but not exactly all excited about it. He would just sit there and listen to what everyone had to say about their boring, non-scientific lives. Then he'd wedge something about intelligence in there.

Gomei, in a close respect, was the hardest to get to reunions. The still-gothic Saiya-jin would sit in silence until spoken to. Even then, he spoke in a very quiet, natural dark tone.

Someone knocked at the door again, and this time the sound gave off a sense of impatience. This made Aqua fling the door open with a start.

"Gomei?! What a surprise!" Aqua exclaimed, pulling him in and hugging the life out of him.

"Piccolo?" Gohan stuttered in bewilderment.

"Huh?!" everyone said in unison and shifted their attention to the doorway.

Surely enough, the tall Namek stood in the doorway with a dead, plain expression. When he saw Gohan, though, he brightened up a bit.

"What are you doing here, Piccolo?" Gohan asked in a squeaky voice.

"I just ran into Gomei on his way over here and decided to see why everyone, all your kids, I mean, was headed over to your house. So, what is it?" Piccolo responded, unfolding his arms.

Gohan stood in silence for a moment, and then quickly spoke up.

"Oh, well, they were just coming over to see our new son, Keith, and to visit."

"Oh… where is he?"

"Sleeping… He'll be up in a bit, don't worry."

Gohai jumped in on everything. "So what's up, Pic?" he spat out, full of energy.

Piccolo looked down and smiled at the hybrid.

"Very little, kid," he said, putting a heavy hand on his head and messing up his spiked hair. It just fell back into place.

Piccolo loved Gohan's children like they were his own. And out of all of them, it can be assumed that he liked Gomei the most because he looked the most like Gohan. In fact, he looked _exactly_ like Gohan except for his eyes, which were exactly like his mother's. That would explain why he followed Gomei instead of the others. Actually, Gomei housed Piccolo whenever Piccolo pleased. They were together a lot, teaching each other new things.

"So Gomei, what's the deal? Why'd you decide to come this time?" Aqua curiously asked.

"Ohhhh, no way!" Gohai exclaimed, jumping into the air at the sight.

A little girl stood behind him. She smiled sweetly and her two eyes, which were a copy-and-paste set of Gomei's, glittered with glee. Aqua and Gohan nearly had a heart attack when they realized who she was.

"Is she yours?!" Aqua demanded, nearly grabbing her son by his shoulders and shaking him until he fell apart.

His nervous silence confirmed their assumption.

"Gomei! Why didn't you tell us?!" Kaizei shouted angrily, charging at him.

"I… wanted to surprise you guys… Plus I was embarrassed…" he said nervously.

"Well hello there! What's your name?" Aqua said, bending to her height.

The little girl stepped forward without any show of shyness or fear.

"Akka," she said.

"Heyyy, that's my name, kiddie," Aqua said, glaring up at Gomei who looked away in embarrassment. "Gomei…?"

"When she was born… she just… she… looked just like you… Sorry, Mom, couldn't hold back…" he explained.

"Oh gee."

"New friend!" Akairii and Akairiu shouted in unison and ran over to greet her.

The three two-year-olds instantly became a trio of best friends. They all ran back upstairs to where Kosan, Fukizon, and Xiu sat watching TV.

"What about her mother? Where is—" Aqua started.

"Dead," he said bluntly. He sighed deeply and repeated in a better tone, "She's dead." Before they could ask, Gomei said, "She died shortly after giving birth…"

"Oh Gomei, I'm sorry…" Aqua said, gravely.

She went to embrace him for emotional comfort, but he merely held up a hand and stepped away.

"No, I'm not upset. Don't be sorry. I didn't even like the girl… but she told the doctor before she died that she thought I was the father and asked them to do a DNA test… They contacted me… and the DNA test matched." Gomei took in a breath and continued. "At first I didn't like the thought of taking care of a child… I'd just let everyone else deal with it. But they insisted that I just hold her at least once to be sure my mind was made up, and while I was looking into her eyes… I suddenly… I felt like I couldn't live normally without taking care of her… it wasn't right… and then she took my finger in her tiny hand and my heart… So I started liking the kid. Then, I took her back to show Piccolo and he helped me decide on a name for her… and he promised his life to not tell anyone, not even you, Dad, about it," he finished with a heavy sigh.

"Well… it was very manly for you to take responsibility for your daughter. So many other fathers just let society take care of it, but you stepped in. I'm proud of you for making the right decision," Aqua said with a smile.

Gomei sported a timid smile and politely made his way upstairs to where the others were. Gohai stopped him at the top of the stairs. They stared at each other for an eternity before Gohai hugged his little brother and patted him on the back.

"I'm proud of you too, little brother. I'm glad you took her in." He looked back to where the kids played happily. Then he looked back at Gomei. "A lot of good has come of it already."

For the first time in a very long time, Gomei smiled a genuine smile.

"Yeah."

They sat down to catch up on the things about each other that they had missed out on.

"Guess I'll be on my way now…" Piccolo said and turned to leave.

"Hey, Piccolo… uhh…" Gohan started. Piccolo turned to face him. "Why not c'mon in and hang out with us?"

Piccolo smiled a bit. "Sure."

---

A few hours had passed and everyone had finally met the young Keith. Of course, Keith was still just as nervous, but he got as used to everyone as he ever would. The only ones he hadn't met yet were Gojurei and Goriei; they never showed up. Aqua, Gohan, and the others were upset and disappointed at his not coming, but not surprised. After all, he _never_ came to visit.

Keith sat between Gohan and Piccolo on the sofa, but was all scrunched up against the side of his father, who had an arm around him for comforting reassurance. But that didn't offend Piccolo because he had seen how the child had reacted the same with everyone else except for his two parents. Gomei's Aqua, Xiu, and the twins were climbing all over their parents, relatives, and even Piccolo became a jungle gym. The adults all dealt with it and sometimes joined in on the play. Kosan and Fukizon sat around calmly, feeling rather drained.

A very steady knock came from the front door. Everyone paused. Aqua got up to get it.

"Oh my gosh!" Aqua exclaimed at seeing Gojurei standing before her. "It's you! Yes!" She jumped up and down excitedly.

"Mom…" Gojurei said in a cold, dead tone. "I have something for Keith."

"Oh… okay…" she replied in bewilderment, hurt that her second son hadn't greeted her in any way at all.

With that, Gojurei swiftly made his way upstairs, not wearing his lab coat this time, and met Keith. Goriei stood in the doorway, glaring up at his grandmother with an insane, crazed expression.

"Hi, Goriei."

"Haaaa! Hyyehahh!" he hollered and lunged at her in a friendly hug.

"Nice to see you too!"

"Keith, little brother, this is for you," Gojurei said emotionlessly and took out a bracelet from his pocket. He put it around the kid's wrist. For an odd reason, Keith didn't flinch or jump or vomit, he just sat there calmly.

"Listen here, Dragon… you'll be able to use this when your emotions say you can, okay?"

Keith nodded and examined his gift. The bracelet was made purely of iron. It had a red fire-breathing dragon on it. Keith was awed by its beauty and at the way it made him feel.

"Th-th-th-th-thank y-you," he finally said.

Upon wearing his gift, Keith felt headstrong and less nervous about everything. He felt powerful.

"Sure," Gojurei said and patted him on the head.

Keith had the urge to jump up into the safety of Gohan's arms, but something kept him calm and held him back. This surprised everyone but Piccolo… he was onto something. He somehow felt that Gojurei had given that dragon bracelet to Keith other than to help him with his fears, seeing as they had never met until just then.

As Gojurei headed for the door to leave, Piccolo stopped him with a most serious look on his face. He lowered his voice to speak exclusively to Gohan's second son.

"You know something, don't you?"

Gojurei looked up and glared at his father's former trainer directly in the eyes.

"I might, but—"

"What is it?"

"Stop by my lab later and I might try to explain, okay? Bring Gomei here along with you."

Piccolo nodded in agreement and stepped out of his way so that he could leave. Gojurei snapped his fingers as he reached the front door.

"Goriei, come. We're leaving," he summoned his lab-created son.

Goriei, who was playing with the other little kids, heard his name and immediately went to his father's side. The child looked rather angry and dissatisfied.

"Don't give me that look, son, let's go," Gojurei demanded and opened the door.

"Staaaaahhhhh!" his creation protested, folding his arms and turning his head away.

"No, no stay. Come along!" he said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along.

"Nooooooo! Leehhh goooo! NOOO!" he screamed horrendously, pulling in the opposite direction.

Gojurei got pulled back in and into a wall. Everyone upstairs laughed at what had happened, but Gojurei was at the other end of the spectrum; he was furious.

"All right, fine! Stay!" he paused and looked up at everyone. They all looked sad. The young hybrid took in a heavy sigh and let it out slowly. "Very well… we'll stay… but only until ten and then we're gone, comprende?"

And that caused Goriei to do something he had never done before… he threw himself into his father's arms and forced him to hug him. In the same respect, Gojurei held onto him, hugged him but pretended he didn't, and carried him back upstairs.

---

"If you guys want, you can let them all spend the night here. How would you guys like that?" Aqua said to all the half-asleep kids.

"Yeah…" several of them returned in semi-consciousness.

"Well… I dunno… the boys are on a schedule…" Aixia started but her husband cut in.

"Yes, Mom, they can stay. We could use a free night," Gohai agreed, getting up and stretching.

With a yawn, each parent agreed, got up, said their goodbyes, and left, one by one. Gojurei was the last to get up because a few of the kids had fallen asleep on or next to him. When he got up, Piccolo followed him to the door.

"Mom… sorry I never visit or call you or anything... You too Dad… I promise I'll start doing those things though… I promise…" Gomei apologized to his parents, still upstairs.

Aqua's eyes glowed at her son finally being open to her. She had never seen him act so friendly and affectionate before. She guessed that his daughter, strategically named after her, had dramatically changed everything about him. Gohan had similar thoughts running through his head as he patted Gomei's back.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, son. We'll look forward to hearing from you more often," Gohan said.

Gomei nodded a bit and went over to where his daughter lay partially asleep. He put a hand on her head and brushed his fingers through her soft, blue hair. A gentle, pacified smile came to his lips.

"Aqua, sweetie… I'm gonna go. You can stay the night here, okay?" he whispered.

The small child stirred a bit, opened her two eyes, and kissed him on the nose.

"Bye bye, Daddy," she whispered back in the most angelic voice Gomei had ever heard in all his twenty-three years.

Gomei gave her a kiss back, on the forehead, got up, and went down the stairs. Gojurei and Piccolo came up to him, said something that Aqua and Gohan couldn't hear, and they all left together.

"I wonder what they're up to," Gohan wondered as he watched two of his sons and his former trainer leave together.

"Boy stuff. Gojurei probably has something new in his lab that they wanted to check out," Aqua replied without inquiry.

"You're probably right…"

"Yeah. Help me carry these kids into rooms. They can't sleep here in the living room like this."

Gohan nodded in agreement and took Keith in his arms first, dropped him off in the proper room, and then headed back for more. After all the children were conveyed to their rooms, Aqua and Gohan left for their own. They had had a long day indeed.

---

**[A/N:** I felt a few things needed explaining as well as some FYIs!

- First of all, Aqua's characterization as portrayed in this story has since evolved. If I were to go back and rewrite what I have here, she'd be more quiet and less exclamatory and hyperactive about everything.

- I have no idea why I decided to name this story _Slide Down My Rainbow._ Oo; I just remember that it's some nursery rhyme my cousin and I used to sing together.

- Aqua and Gohan's children (their spouses and children are in parenthesis, and also genders are in brackets - [F] for Female, [M] for Male), in birth order, are as follows: Gohai [M] (Wife: Aixia, Children: Kosan [M], Fukizon [M], Xiu [M]), Gojurei [M] (No wife, Child: Goriei [M] (he will be explained in a moment)), Kaizei [F] (Husband: Spencer (who was actually a villain in a previous fic of mine that I never wrote... go figure Dx), Children: Akairii [F] and Akariu [M], who are twins), Gomei [M] (Wife: None, Child: Aqua [F]), and Keith [M] (No spouse as of yet, seeing as he's only two years old in this fic xD]. Confusing? My apologies. Dx

- Goriei is Gojurei's clone. Gojurei created him by manipulating his own cells (don't ask how... it's just a fic, so go with it). This took place in yet another story that I never got around to writing. Basically, Goriei is the "Perfect Saiya-jin". When Gojurei created Goriei, he was able to elliminate any weak points he may have had (Gojurei is actually the weakest of Aqua and Gohan's children), thus meaning that Goriei has no weaknesses. However, his intelligence was compromised. Goriei cannot really speak, but make loud shrieks that sometimes resemble words. He most of the time can't understand what's going on around him, but sometimes he generates a vague understanding when the emotions around him are intense enough. In this story that I never wrote, Goriei was too powerful for his, or anyone else's, good, and he ended up killing a lot of people on accident as an infant. Gojurei was able to get him under control, though he is still remarkably powerful, and is, in fact, one of the two who ends up defeating the villain in this very story. Sadly, about ten years after _Slide Down My Rainbow_, Goriei succumbs to cellular failure due to the fact that his cells are cloned and are therefore unstable, and dies (I am actually working on this fic as we speak!).

- The mother of Gomei's daughter is never named. All we know of her is that she died in childbirth and that Gomei did not feel any sort of affection towards her. I will tell you now that little Aqua is the result of a one-night stand between Gomei and her mother.

- Gomei's name was actually originally Genocide! Can you believe that? What an angsty teenager I was. xD

That's all I can think of for now. If I think of more, I'll put it at the end of the next chapter. -.o **]**


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Gojurei, Gomei, and Piccolo were on their rather speedy way back to Gojurei's laboratory. Gomei flipped over on his back and went right along flying as usual. The young, gothic Saiya-jin sighed deeply as he looked up at the shimmering stars. He had never felt so alive and happy before. He was finally learning to live.

"Y'know, I'm not really sure that my little girl is gonna survive over there… y'know how crazy Mom is…" Gomei said.

Gojurei, in the meantime, was flying normally, right-side up, and he answered with a dead tone.

"I'm sure they'll be okay, Gomei. Let's focus on what's more important at the moment and—"

"Hey!" Gomei snapped, flipping back to normal. "Goriei may not mean much to you but my daughter is the most important thing to me! At least you should show your children that you love them!"

"Ha! Love has nothing to do with science, dear brother."

"Oh fuck that! Science sucked me for a dime last night! There's a shitload more to life than _science_," Gomei retorted.

Piccolo moved in between the two feuding hybrid brothers.

"Boys, put the squabbling aside for now. Gojurei, hurry up and show us what's so important," Piccolo ordered. They both nodded and hurried off to Gojurei's lab.

---

"Spencer? What's wrong, hun?" Kaizei asked, walking out onto the back porch to where her husband sat, gazing at the stars.

"Huh?" He was startled by Kaizei suddenly speaking to him. "Oh…"

"I said, what's wrong?" she repeated, sitting next to him and leaning up against him.

It took him a while to answer, but, when he finally did, a cold breeze came by and chilled the only daughter of Aqua and Gohan.

"The stars are wrong…" he said.

Kaizei blinked at his response and turned her head in the direction that Spencer was faced. She squinted hard but found nothing wrong with the twinkling jewels that sprinkled the night sky.

"I… don't see anything wrong with them, Spencer…"

"Not the stars themselves…" he corrected. "…their position and arrangement."

This caused Kaizei to take a second look. But she was no star expert.

"I still don't see anything, dearest—"

"It's like this, Kaizei." He pointed to a group of stars. "Those are supposed to be set already at this time of year. Yet they're clear to the eye. And Cassiopeia is stretched a little… The stars… are wrong…" Spencer trailed off, shaking his head.

"Ya think something's wrong--?"

"Yes. Kaizei… we should go back to your parents' house just to be safe… I have a _very_ bad feeling inside…"

Kaizei didn't even try to question him; she trusted his feelings were genuine and should be taken into account. So, she stood up, nodded, and went back into the house. Spencer sat outside for just a little bit longer before following. The young Sidian got one last look at the stars before he left.

---

Back at Gojurei's lab, the three Z Warriors entered around midnight. All three were excessively exhausted but Gojurei had something so important to show and tell them that their sleep _had_ to wait. Piccolo and Gomei looked around in awe at all the weird stuff everywhere.

"Gojurei… I never thought…" Piccolo started.

"Don't try to flatter me, Piccolo. This is all the crap I have just lying around."

"Some pretty advanced shit to be just lying around like dirty clothes…" Gomei remarked, causing Gojurei to growl at him.

"Boys… please…" Piccolo said.

Gojurei just found his lab coat, put it on, and went into what appeared to be his office, leaving the other two in the laboratory. They stood there in silence, not knowing what to say or do. Something on the computer screen caught Gomei's attention; thus, he checked it out.

"Woah. Hey, Piccolo, check it out." Piccolo went over to him. "Gojurei's documents of data. What the fuck?! He crossbred a tiger and a velociraptor?!"

Piccolo had several sweatdrops forming on the back of his head.

"I swear that boy is more like Dr. Gero than anyone else I've ever known…" Piccolo muttered.

They both darted back to their normal places when they heard the door open again. Gojurei stepped out, holding some papers. Still flipping through them, he rejoined his brother and father's former trainer. He cleared his throat and handed them each a packet of papers.

"What're these?" Gomei asked, looking at them.

"These first nine are photos of the same region of stars taken over the same period of time. Between page one and page nine, a full thirty seconds had lapsed. Take a look at them and tell me what you see, gentlemen," he said, folding his arms.

They did so without a word. Gomei scratched his head in bewilderment as he didn't see the catch. Piccolo, however, saw only a little bit of what he was about to be shown. Gomei finally shrugged and said, "So what? They're stars. What about them?"

"Brother… flip through them like a flipbook and tell me what you see then…" Gojurei said ominously.

The gothic Saiya-jin hybrid let his thumb let up one page at a time. He did it again in shock at what he had seen. In flipping through, he realized that the region of stars was the constellation Draco, but that's not what made him nearly drop the papers and back away in utter terror… it's what the constellation _did_.

"It… no way…" Gomei stuttered in disbelief.

"It's… alive…" Piccolo used the right words to describe what they saw.

"Not exactly alive… animated…" Gojurei corrected.

The dragon constellation had moved its head as if to gaze into the viewer's soul to eat it, narrowed its "eyes", and opened its jaws. In the last photo, page nine, Draco appeared ready to pounce down on them from the stars above.

"What's all this mean? Why is this happening?" Piccolo asked, hoping the scientist wouldn't reply with an "I don't know."

"I don't know…" He paused. "Hold your breath and look at the last page…"

Gomei and Piccolo flipped to the last page and they both felt their hearts stop cold in their chests. Gomei shook his head in denial. Piccolo gripped the paper, trembling in fear of what he saw.

"I know… scary…" Gojurei said.

The stars in the last photo had formed words and pictures. It first said "Keith," then a picture of a skull, and then it said "DIE."

"No. Keith… Why him? He's just a kid…" Gomei stammered, choking.

"That's what you gave him that bracelet… for self-defense against… whatever it is…" Piccolo put the pieces together.

"Correct."

Gomei dropped the packet and ran for the exit at top speed.

"Gomei! Where are you going?!" Gojurei demanded, following him to the door.

"Sorry, can't stay here! I'm going to my little girl and my little brother. I'm not gonna let anything happen to them!" he said and took off before either Piccolo or Gojurei could say a word back to him.

---

"It sure is relaxing without the boys around, isn't it, Gohai dear?" Aixia said, topping it off with a peaceful sigh.

"Sure is. Indeed," Gohai agreed.

Aixia looked at him strangely; so strange that Gohai quirked a brow and cocked his head to the side. He didn't even stop to think that she was hinting at something. Ignorance had his attention at the moment though and just as his wife was about to kiss him deeply, Gohai leapt up from where he was seated and exclaimed:

"This is the perfect opportunity to get the band together and practice! Yeah, that's it! No kids to worry about waking up!! Yay for me!"

Aixia fell over anime style. She wasn't gonna let him have his way this time. So just as Gohai went for the phone to call Bra and Tsui, Aixia seized his tail, pulled him off balance, and made him fall onto the ground.

"You aren't getting away this time, Gohai Jacinth Judaic. Tonight, you belong to me." Gohai's eyes widened in fear and delight. He wanted to be with his friends and at the same time he wanted to be with his wife. But his hormones were taking over… "Every inch of you his mine…" That did it. Before Gohai could even utter a single syllable, Aixia jumped on him as if to attack.

"Hey! Ahhggh!" Gohai shouted in alarm.

---

Gohai may've been having fun while being oblivious to the fact that something or someone wanted his youngest brother dead, but the others were hot on the situation. Gojurei and Piccolo were still at the lab, thinking rationally of what to do.

"Shouldn't we contact the others and let them know about this in case we need their help?" Piccolo suggested.

"Affirmative. We should. But directly after that, we get the kids out of my mother's house and station them somewhere safer… like Master Roshi's," Gojurei said with a hand on his chin, a hand in his pocket, and pacing back and forth in deep thought.

"And what about Keith? Does he go too?"

"Negative. This malevolence is after _him_. Thus, his exodus with the other kids will endanger their lives again. We must keep him with us in order to find out what's going on _and_ in order to protect him when the time calls."

"Good point. We better get going then, shouldn't we?"

"No." Gojurei shook his head. "We'll call everyone and notify them first. Then move the kids, save Keith, to Roshi's. Then…" He didn't finish. He let Piccolo finish it in his head.

Gojurei got out his phone book full of numbers, although he never used it, and tore it in exact halves. He handed one half to Piccolo, who took it.

"Call everyone in there and tell them to rendezvous at the Judaic residence, pronto."

Piccolo nodded in agreement, picked up a phone, dialed, and notified Roshi first that he should be expecting them soon. With an exhausted sigh, Gojurei took his half and picked up the phone in his office, which was a different phone line than the one Piccolo was using. The phone rang… and rang… and rang… and rang yet again. No answer. Gojurei shifted his weight from one foot to the other, tapping his foot on the ground in impatience.

"God damn it, Gohai! Answer the confounded phone for Christ's sake!" he hissed in irritation.

---

"Mmmm…" Gohai mumbled in his sleep. "Phone…"

The darn thing just kept ringing mercilessly, waking the hybrid from a rather peaceful slumber. He was worn out completely, drained of every drop of his energy. So was Aixia. Screwing around had its advantages and disadvantages, Gohai came to realize after the night Xiu was conceived. But that didn't stop him from enjoying himself when the mood and time was right.

"Curse that technology… stupid fucking phone…" Gohai cursed, not moving at all to get the phone.

"Just get it, love… probably one of the boys wondering why we left them there…" Aixia said, rolling over and resting her head on his chest.

It rang one last time before the answering machine clicked on.

"Top o' the day to ya, my fans! I know you probably want an autograph or something but guess what! I ain't here right now!" Gohai's voice sounded on the machine. Aixia's voice chimed in, "Neither am I!" before continuing with the message. "So nothing personal, but leave a name and number, ladies, and I'll give ya a call when I check this box again around the annual time! Peace out, punk!" Then the entire band of 700 Liters shouted at the end, "Later!" Then a beep sounded.

Gojurei's voice burst out of the machine so harshly that it vibrated and bounced across the desk on which it sat.

"GOHAI, YOU JERK! Answer the god damn phone, NOW! This is urgent! Keith's life is in danger! MEET US AT MOM'S HOUSE, _RIGHT NOW_!!!" he hollered. Finally, the machine fell off the desk and clattered to the floor.

"Jesus!" Gohai shouted in alarm at hearing the fury, frustration, and fear in his little brother's voice. The message had startled him enough to roll over Aixia in order to get out of bed. Now he was finally awake, and so was Aixia.

Gohai picked up his clothes from the floor and threw them on, sloppily as you please, and ran out of the room. Aixia, startled at the sudden change of mood, got on her clothes and followed. When she exited the room, Gohai was already out the door. She took off after him, heart pounding.

---

"That the last one, Piccolo?" Gojurei asked, hanging up his phone. He had just finished talking to Goten.

"Yes," the Namek replied, hanging up his phone as well.

"All right, _now_ we leave."

---

Back at the Judaic residence, all was calm and quiet, as opposed to the environments of Gohai, Gojurei, Kaizei, and company. It was now about one in the morning and everyone was fast asleep except for Aqua, who was unable to sleep, as usual. She tossed and turned hideously, trying to get comfortable. But all those things that had happened decades ago still robbed her of sleep, even now, after life had smoothed out for her.

They had not received a call from Gojurei. Aqua had a habit of unplugging the phones from the walls when it was time to sleep. Idiots called all night and she was never in the mood to tolerate it, so all phones got disconnected at night. The only way to reach them was by actually coming over, which was usually not worth the trouble.

Gohan, who _was_ sleeping soundly, opened an eye at his wife's restlessness. He rolled over so that he faced her, yawned, and opened his other eye.

"Aqua? You okay? You're moving a lot," he asked, making sure nothing too bad was wrong.

Aqua sighed, faced him, and answered, "I'm fine, I guess. Nothing I haven't had trouble doing all along anyway."

Gohan took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. He stretched and rolled out of his side of the bed to get up to use the bathroom. Aqua just laid there and watched him until he disappeared behind the bathroom wall. When she couldn't see him anymore, she rolled back over onto her right side to attempt sleep again.

Moments later, the toilet flushed, the sink ran for a few seconds, and the bathroom light clicked off, making the room turn pitch black again. Aqua made a small noise in her throat as she felt the bed shift from the weight of another body. Gohan looked at her for a second, grinned a bit in the dark, then scooted up behind her and put an arm around her, pulling her close to him. The princess of Saiya-jins was startled by this but then calmed down quickly.

"I'm gonna get you some help for your insomnia first thing tomorrow," Gohan said in a soft, caring tone and gave her a kiss on the side of her face.

"It's all in my head, Gohan… can they really help that?" Aqua asked, not facing him.

"Sure they can," he replied assuredly, running his hand through her hair. This suddenly pacified her and made her eyelids feel like weights too heavy for her to lift. Her father used to do that to her when she couldn't sleep. All the memories of him played back in her memory again, extracting a few tears from her. All the pain began to bleed back to the surface, taking over her emotions, causing her to sob uncontrollably.

"Aqua? What's wrong?" Gohan worriedly asked, holding her tighter.

"I want my Daddy…" she sobbed in the voice of her five-year-old self.

Gohan's kind heart sank at hearing this. Aqua usually never cried for any reason. For her cry like that meant that something truly and severely tear-provoking had come to her mind. The only thing Gohan could do now was to embrace her like a mother comforting a child whose pet had just died and continuously whisper to her that it was all right, it was okay. Eventually he succeeded in rocking her to sleep.

---

"Spencer! Oh my god! LOOK!!" Kaizei shouted in alarm, stabbing a finger in the direction of a patch of stars in front of them.

Hearing his wife's shouting, Spencer jerked his head in the direction of her finger. When he looked, he saw the constellation Draco moving fiercely, as though it were fighting. And it was. He watched as a different section of stars suddenly magnetized to each other. They came together and formed a human-resembling figure holding a sword. Both Spencer and Kaizei watched in horror as the man battled with Draco, raised his sword, and plunged it into the dragon's scaly chest. Millions of new stars poured out of the wound to represent blood. The spectacular strongly resembled a laser light show of some sort. The dragon then staggered back, clutching at the sword lodged in its chest while staggering on his hind paws, and then finally toppled over backwards. The stars remained still in the position they had stopped; the dragon on its back, dead, with a sword emerging from its chest, and the man just standing there with his arms folded.

"What was that?!" Spencer blurted out, blinking and trembling in confusion.

"I know what it's saying… Think about it, Spencer. A man killing a dragon. Dragon…" Kaizei paused to let her husband think about it. When it finally dawned on him, he shouted:

"Keith! Keith's nickname is Dragon!" He, too, paused. "Oh no… then who's the man slaying the dragon?"

He stared at Kaizei, fear swimming in his eyes. Kaizei swallowed and shivered in fear.

"I've a feeling we'll find out real soon…" was all she said.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a wave of liquid fell on them from above, flooding the ground below them. Kaizei and Spencer just floated there in utter terror at what had just happened.

"Uhh!" Kaizei gasped, looking at the sticky, thick substance. She nearly fell to tears as she shook in disgust, nearly vomiting. Spencer held his hands in front of him to look at the liquid, for he was bathed head to toe in it too.

"Blood… Genuine blood…" he said in a dark tone.

Kaizei whimpered at what had just happened. Spencer looked at her.

"Kaizei… we need to hurry before something happens to your little brother…" Spencer said. Kaizei nodded and they both took off, full throttle.

---

Gohai lived the closest to his parents, so he made quick work of the return trip there. Aixia was immediately behind him and hadn't the faintest idea of what was going on or what to expect to find out. All she knew was that one moment she was enjoying the simple pleasures in life with her husband and the next there was panic at hand."Gohai! Slow down, hun!" she called to him, struggling to keep up. Her species, Ianians, or werewolves if you will, were atrocious fliers. Even after she learned well, expert to her was beginner to the others who knew the trick well.

In natural response, Gohai let up a bit so Aixia could get to his side once again. But Gohai was most impatient, more so now than ever.

"Sorry, Aixia, I can't wait. C'mere," he said. With that, Gohai snatched his wife out of the air and sped off to his parents' house at top speed.

---

Meanwhile, Gomei was much further away than his oldest brother was, but he still covered ground just as quickly. The Goth had his teeth clenched hard enough to shatter them like glass; his fists were also tightened, the nails were digging into his skin, causing them to bleed. He didn't notice this, nor would he have cared even if he did notice.

The thoughts and worries of his daughter and brother flooded every single emotion and coherent action of his. He constantly had a fear in his head that he'd get to his parents' house and everyone would be dead.

_No, it's not true. Just keep going, Gomei. Just keep going!_ he screamed to himself mentally.

He picked up speed. And then, just as he had accelerated, a chunk of something hard, heavy, and very hot slammed into him from above. It hit him so hard that it knocked him out cold and caused him to plummet to the ground, completely unconscious. Twenty-three year old Gomei Jonas Judaic lay there, sprawled out, and completely still, save his moving chest due to breathing.

Overhead, a section of stars formed an evil smiley face and gestured that it was laughing in delight. Then the two eyes glowed red for a second, and then faded. The night sky was still once again.

---

"Where's Gomei? He couldn't have gotten too far ahead of us," Piccolo asked, flying alongside of Gojurei.

"I'm sure he's really close to getting there by now. We aren't so far off ourselves," Gojurei replied.

---

Gohai banked in to land as he saw the house on the corner of the street. With Aixia still in his arms, he touched down carelessly and fell forward. But he picked himself right back up, helped his wife up as well, and darted up the porch steps to the front door. He knocked as hard as he could, intending to wake up the entire neighborhood. When no one answered his heavy rapping, he added his bold voice.

"Mom! Dad! It's Gohai! Let me in now! It's an emergency! C'MON!!" he hollered at the top of his lungs.

"Gohai, don't wake up the dead!" Aixia hushed him.

But Gohai shot a rather angry glare at her. It was so cold and furious that it made her heart stop in its place. But then it softened as soon as he realized what his expression had been saying.

"Sorry… but I need to wake them up!" he apologized.

He raised a fist to punch down the door but a very sleepy Gohan opened the door with a yawn. Gohai almost landed a full-forced fist in his father's face but luckily, for both of them, he stopped himself just in time. Gohan blinked at his oldest son with drowsy eyes.

"Gohai? What're you doing here, son?" he questioned, the last three words slurring into a yawn.

"Dad, I got a phone call from Gojurei. He said that Keith was in danger and he told me to meet up here," he explained.

That got Gohan awake. He immediately let the two in and shut the door behind them. They hurried up the stairs to sit so Gohai could explain all he knew, which was extremely limited.

"Gohai, take a breath," Gohan said, putting a hand on his son's shoulder to calm him down. Gohai hadn't even realized how much breath he had lost. Before the phone call, he had been exhausted both by sexual activity and by the lateness of the evening, and now his rushing over to his parents' house had only added to his exhaustion. If he were to fight right then and there, he'd probably lose to due to this. "Now, tell me what happened. What do you mean that Keith is in danger?" Gohan asked.

"I dunno yet! G'rei freaked out on me over the god damn answering machine!" Gohai yelled, irritated.

"Woah, calm down, son. The others are still sleeping," Gohan said.

"Not now, we aren't…" Aqua smirked and walked into the room, little Keith in her arms. The child yawned a big yawn and sat there in innocence. He was also unaware that someone was after his life.

"Gohai, what's going on?" Aqua demanded, trying to rock Keith back to sleep.

SMACK! CRUNCH! WHAM! Everyone jumped at the sound of splintering wood as Gojurei and Piccolo charged in, both with equally serious looks on their faces. Keith, petrified, dug his face into his mother's chest, shivering in fear. Before anyone could say anything, Gojurei laid out the plans for the hours to come.

"Mom, Dad… Keith… sorry to barge in like this but we had to. On evidence I have gathered, evidence of which I've shown both Gomei and Piccolo, it has been indicated time and time again that some supernatural being wants Keith dead." Everyone, including Keith, sat in silence, not knowing what to say. "So Listen up. When Kaizei and Gomei get here, we need to get all the kids, except Keith, over to Roshi's, just to be safe. Mom, Dad… Gohai, Kaizei, and I will stay here with you guys to defend Keith. Piccolo and Gomei will escort the rest of the kids to Roshi's and then return here."

"By the way, where's Gomei?" Piccolo threw in. Gojurei shrugged.

"We'll wait and see," he replied, taking in a breath. Piccolo nodded.

"D-D-D-Daddy, I'm s-s-scared," Keith whimpered and began to cry. Gohan got up from where he was seated and went over to his son to comfort him. Keith crawled out of his mother's arms and into his father's where he demanded with his whining to be held onto tightly and forced his face into his chest. Gohan did hold onto him, and rocked him slightly to pacify his tears.

"Shh, Keith, it's okay. We aren't going to let anything happen to you," Gohan reassured, rubbing his little son's back.

Footsteps in the doorway were heard as Kaizei and Spencer made their ways into the house across the broken-down door.

"Mom? Dad? Are you guys here?" Kaizei said, making her way upstairs.

"Yes," Aqua said, comforting the very upset Keith.

"Mr. and Mrs. Judaic, have you seen the stars lately?! Someone's trying to kill Keith!" Spencer exclaimed.

"Yes, we know… now…" Gohan said, cutting his son-in-law a cruel glare for frightening Keith even more.

"Mama!" Akairii chirped and ran up to her mother. Akairiu followed close behind but went to his father instead.

"Mama! We heard everything! Don't let anything happen to Dragon!" the twins yelled simultaneously.

Kosan, Fukizon, and Xiu ran out soon after and found comfort in their parents' arms. Goriei bounded out, still full of energy. He couldn't understand very well but he sensed something was going on. He pounced on Gojurei, who staggered back a bit, caught his balance, and allowed his son to hug him. Lastly, Aqua, Gomei's daughter, walked into the living room, rubbing her sleepy eyes and yawning. She blinked at everyone with her bright eyes and curiously asked in an angelic voice:

"Where's my daddy?"

---

Out in a field of emerald green grass and dandelions, Gomei lay on the cold ground, bleeding from his hair, face, and other places. He was still unconscious from whatever had hit him. A raccoon came up to him and sniffed at him curiously.

"Uhhh…" he groaned, drifting back into consciousness. Weakly and slowly, he pushed himself off the ground and staggered wildly. The thing that had hit him had hit him hard enough to make him have difficulty staying balanced.

He put a hand on his head and coughed a wild, bone-shaking cough. With the taste of blood in his mouth, he spat into the grass.

"Ahhh… wha…?" he stammered, feeling extremely sick and dizzy.

Remembering where he was going and why, he lunged off the ground to fly again. But he had been hurt so badly, that he teetered in mid-air a bit and then collapsed to the ground. Angered by this, he got back up, tried again, and wielded the same results.

"Great…" he muttered to himself. He began to walk in the direction he was headed, holding his bleeding head, which was pounding with pain, all the while. "Aqua..." he panted. "…Keith… hang on… I'm… coming… my little girl… Daddy's coming… hang on…"

On the last word, his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell forward, unconscious once again. The wind blew softly through his hair and then stopped. Gomei just lay there about ten feet from where he had fallen.


	3. Chapter 3

**[A/N:** Annnnnd, this is the last I ever wrote of this story. I didn't complete this chapter, and probably never will. I will, of course, update it if I ever do.** ]**

---

"NOOOO! I want my daddy! I want my daddy NOW!" the child Aqua screamed her demands as loud as she could. Her bold voice made everyone cover their ears and cringe.

"Aqua, honey, I'm sure he's on his way here right now. Just come on and go to Roshi's with Piccolo," Gohan tried to convince his little grand daughter. She just folded her arms in protest.

Kaizei went over to her niece and tried to pick her up. But the little girl merely jerked away and growled at her aunt in anger. She looked completely defensive and if she had been a cat, her fur would have been standing straight on its ends. The child had a bad temper indeed. Aqua couldn't tell if she had gotten it from Gomei or from her mother, and she'd probably never find out.

"Goodness god! Gomei sure has spoiled you, little Aqua! Just obey us and go!" Kaizei blurted, feeling rather irritated.

Gojurei had grown excessively agitated. Not able to tolerate Aqua's whining any more, he faded away and reappeared behind her, grabbing her from behind.

"Gotcha!"

"LET GO!!"

"AGHHH!"

He let her go. Little Aqua had pulled back a foot and kicked him in the groin. Gojurei recovered quite quickly though, while Gohai and Spencer held their breath in pain at just watching, and he pulled out a syringe from his right lab coat pocket. It already had a liquid in it. He nodded to Piccolo and the Namek nodded back. Then he grabbed the child and held her super still, just long enough so the young scientist could stick her in the neck with the needle and inject her with the fluid. Then they both backed off, rather afraid of her.

"You hurt me! You…!" She staggered around violently. She shook her head. "Leave me alone! Go… go… leave… Daddy…" Finally, the injection got to her and she dropped to the floor where Piccolo picked her up and into his arms. She was fast asleep.

"Whew… good thing I had that on me," Gojurei said in relief, putting the needle away in his pocket.

"What was the formula, bro? Super snooze?" Gohai questioned sarcastically.

"No. I call it the instant cure for insomnia. It's…" He paused and noticed no one was catching on. "N-nevermind. Piccolo, do your job. Take them to Roshi's. Spencer, better go with him in case that little one gives him trouble again."

Piccolo nodded and paced down the stairs and out the door. He stopped, looked back, and said, "Children, come on. And try to keep up."

Spencer took the twins in his arms, because they were the youngest and didn't know how to fly yet, and followed Piccolo. Kosan and Goriei exchanged glances and then darted out after the two adults. Fukizon and Xiu hugged everybody and then left. It was quiet for a long time. The only sound was Keith's frightened crying.

---

"So, what have you gathered from all this, Spencer?" Piccolo asked from nowhere, the cold air whipping across his face.

Spencer sighed, readjusted his children in his grip, and said, "Well, I saw a man with a sword kill Draco… I saw this in the stars on the way over… I translated this as this: Draco was a dragon and Keith's nickname is Dragon. So something is wanting to kill him… something from up there." He nodded his head skyward. "…And I don't know who or what it is…"

"Gojurei showed us photos of Draco… it _glared_ at us as if we were its next meal… then the last picture…" He choked. "It said 'Keith DIE'…" Piccolo's heart felt heavy, but he did his best to hide his fear.

Kosan, the oldest of the children, sped up just enough to float up next to Piccolo. He hadn't flown in a while but he was getting used to it all over again. The cold wind had bothered him at first but now it didn't. Kosan was just as confused as the other kids but only he was curious and brave enough to question what exactly was going on. When he did, Piccolo answered:

"It's safe that you kids stay at Roshi's. This being isn't after you guys, it's after Keith."

"But Keith is my friend! I don't want him to get hurt either!" Kosan protested.

"Kosan, just do it, and don't argue!" Piccolo shouted in agitation.

---

"Okay, now this has been too long. Something's happened to Gomei. I know something has," Gojurei ranted, pacing back and forth like the mad scientist that he was. "He left before us! What if he's dead?! Now what?!"

"Don't say that, G'rei! You hush that up right now, you damn freak of a brother!" Kaizei snapped.

Gojurei put on a look of utter hate and rage, and got nose to nose with his sister.

"Make me hush up then, you simpleton!" he threw back.

"Don't make me make you…"

"I'm making you!" he challenged, and shoved her. "Spencer's not around to keep me away from you, now is he?!"

"He isn't, but _I_ am!" Gohai shouted and jumped in front of his sister. "It astonishes me how you're the most like Uncle Vegeta and he's never spent more than two minutes of both of your lives with you! You're a Judaic, not a… a… not Vegeta! And Judaics don't pick on each other!"

Gojurei narrowed his eyes at his older brother.

"Well if that's not the pot calling the kettle black, then I don't know what it is!"

"ENOUGH!!!" Gohan roared at the top of his lungs. The two feuding brothers jumped in shock at their father shouting at them like that. In all their lives, they had never heard their father so angry. Now they had, and they were both suddenly very frightened. So was Keith, who wasn't even the one being yelled at. He cried all over again.

"D… Dad…" Gohai stuttered, feeling his heart pound against his ribcage.

The Judaic children were accustomed to their mother being in control of yelling, but this was a first for them. Aqua was the one with the intolerance for family feuding. This time, however, Gohan stepped in before she did, and his anger came off really well.

"There is something trying to kill my _son_ and _your_ little brother, and the only thing you guys can do is argue about the past?! Never in my life have I been disappointed with my children! Never!" Gohan hit a spot and he knew it, that's why he said it all to begin with.

"Gohan…" Aqua finally whispered. He softened his expression and looked back to his wife. "Your son is afraid… You're scaring him."

Sure enough, Keith was cowering in his mother's arms once again. Gohan sat back down and put a hand on Keith's back and quietly apologized to him.

---

"Daddy…" a small voice echoed in his head.

"Huhhhnnn?" Gomei groaned. Painfully, he forced himself to stand. There, before him, was his little girl, so far away. "Aqua!" he shouted in alarm.

The little girl merely giggled sweetly and innocently and ran away into the woods. Gomei noticed that the trunks of these trees were a very dark purple and the leaves were black as the dead of night. He watched as his little daughter disappeared into the ominous-looking woods.

"No… Aqua… don't go in there! NO! DON'T!" he yelled, running towards and into the dense woods. He ran and ran and ran until he could run no more, and he stopped, panting and sucking at the thick, smoky air.

Another giggle to his left made him whirl in that direction. He saw a silhouette dart away just as he turned to look. He shivered violently. The wooded area's floor could not be seen under the white-gray mist covering it. But he could feel it around his ankles like snakes coiling around them. This made him run again, this time in fright.

Soon, as he continued to run, he began to hear giggles in all directions, more so from behind. Every now and then, a rustling in the bushes indicated someone was running around him. He slowed to a stop, completely out of breath.

"Daddy?" the little girl said from behind.

He turned around at hearing her voice, glad that she was all right. And at the same time he was happy, as he faced her, he suddenly choked in terror. The voice had come from his little girl, but she wasn't quite herself. Her eyes were glowing a deathly, threatening red, and her body was shadowed against the blackness of the woods. His heart leapt into his throat at the sight. He backed away in terror as his daughter became something he feared.

"Aqu-AAHHHHH!!" he screamed.

"—AAAHHHHH!!! WHAT ARE YOU?!" he screamed again, jumping up and backing away in terror. He had not known it, but he had been dreaming while he was unconscious.

Suddenly, he felt someone shaking him.

"Gomei! Gomei, wake up! It's me, Trunks! Wake up!"

"Ahhh... huh?"

Gomei opened his eyes. Trunks had been the one shaking him.

"Wh… what happened? Where am I?"

"Goten and I found you out in the middle of a field. You were knocked out colder than the arctic air," he explained.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Goten asked.

"Quite…" Gomei replied, putting a hand on his chest as if to make sure his heart hadn't exploded out. "Where's Aqua?! Where's Keith?!" he shouted in hysteria. Whatever had hit him had poisoned him with hysteria, so now every little thing made him panic.

"Gomei, take it easy, man," Trunks said, approaching his cousin. Gomei jerked away.

"Get away!" he hissed.

"Gomei, chill, dude!" Goten said.

Gomei backed away, shaking his head. Five seconds later, the lights went out again.

---

The child stirred, signaling that she wasn't far from awakening. Piccolo noticed this and gritted his teeth.

"Spencer, that solution of Gojurei's wore off quicker than he estimated. She's waking up," he said.

"Aw shit! Well, we're here anyway…"

Piccolo looked down and saw Master Roshi, Krillin, 18, Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong standing outside, waiting for them.

"They're here!" Puar exclaimed in her very high-pitched, squeaky voice.

---

"Keith… Keith…" a voice echoed in his ears. Keith looked around for the voice's owner, but found none. "Do not be afraid of me, little one. I will not harm you, dear child." Keith nodded, as if to agree. "Listen carefully, little Keith. Leave the lap of your father and go outside. I will be waiting there for you. Go… now…"

Keith obeyed without hesitation. The young child got up and headed for the back porch, almost mesmerized. When he did this, he got a puzzled stare from the adults. The back door swung open by itself and the screen door was torn away by an invisible force. The moment Keith stepped foot out the door, Gojurei's eyes dilated and he darted for his little brother.

"No Keith, don't go outside!" he rang out.

The moment Gojurei reached Keith, he was shot down by an energy beam, and it went clear through his chest. He staggered in disbelief and coughed at the fact that he had no lungs to breathe with and no heart to pump blood through his veins. Right before darkness enveloped his brain, he saw what had been playing with the stars and what was after Keith's life…

---

"Oh my god!! GOJUREI!!" Aqua and Gohan shouted at the same time.

Both parents were instantaneously on their feet and on the back porch, catching their fallen son's body. Gojurei gurgled blood in his throat; blood bubbled out from his mouth. His cold blue eyes reflected tears of pain and fear. Although he didn't like to admit it, Gojurei was still a kid in many aspects.

He choked on some blood. "M-mom… don't let him take Keith… Mom… D-Dad…" The tears emerged and rolled down from his eyes and down his bloody cheeks. "…I'm s-sorry…"

"G'rei… ah…" Aqua stammered, pushing everything she had against the tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry… did I kill him…?" a calm, cool voice rotten with malevolence slithered from the glowing being who had Keith by the scruff of his shirt. Keith was crying heavily, of course, and was so upset that he made no effort whatsoever to get loose.

Aqua's ice blue eyes shifted from her son's dead body and glared daggers at the monster.

"Yes… you… did… BASTARD!!!" she screamed in utter rage and lunged at him to retrieve Keith.

There was a flash of light and released of tremendous energy as Aqua was electrocuted and thrown painfully to the ground before Gohan.

"Aqua!" Gohan shouted in alarm and helped his wife back to her feet.

"My name is not 'Bastard'… It's Hector," the malevolence hissed, narrowing it glowing green eyes.

"Release my son," Gohan flatly ordered, showing no fear at all.

Hector smirked, but he did not answer in any way. Gohan narrowed his eyes, which now reflected the fires of hell. "I'll repeat myself only once more… if you do not do as I say… I'll _kill_ you… _Release my son, NOW_," he hissed.


End file.
